Bacteriophages: The Forgotten Cure

The reality is that the time where antibiotics could cure most of out illnesses is coming quickly to and end. Superbugs and naturally resistant bacteria are unable to be stopped by antibiotics alone, and the population of these killers is getting larger every second. After doing my research these past couple of weeks, I have come to a personal conclusion that our time depending on antibiotics is coming to a close, and it is crucial that the attention of scientists and researchers begins to fall on bacteriophages and phage therapy. Based on the limited amount of research that has been done on phages, it is hard to know for sure if they truly are a safe alternative to traditional antibiotics. However, based on the information that has been found and the cases that have been treated with bacteriophages, it really does seem like phages are promising. Just as bacteriophages can evolve a resistance to antibiotics, bacteriophages also have the ability to evolve and become stronger to fight an...

Despite bacteriophage therapy being used for around 100 years, it is not commonly known and requires a lot more research. As I've already mentioned in previous blogs, once antibiotics were discovered they became the center of attention in terms of an easy, broad-spectrum medication. While phages are in need of testing in order to target a certain type of disease or illness, the same antibiotics (because they kill both the good and bad bacteria) can be used to treat a variety of issues. This, however, causes the bacteria to quickly develop a resistance to these antibiotics. Not only may phage therapy be a useful alternative to antibiotics, but it also may be a kind of last resort once these bacteria become resistant to our trusted antibiotics. Antibiotics attack those bacteria causing illness, but they also attack those that help you digest and make nutrients. This is the reason that antibiotics come with many potential side effects . 

Phage Therapy is the use of bacteriophages to treat bacterial infections. One of the first uses of phage therapy was within veterinary medicine when it was used in mice to treat E. coli infections. The mice that underwent this phage therapy survived the bacterial infection. The majority of publications surrounding the treatment of bacterial infections in humans come from Eastern Europe. Phage therapy has been proven effective in treating  staphylococcal lung infections,  infections in cystic fibrosis patients,  eye infections,  neonatal sepsis , urinary tract infections , and surgical wound infections. Advantages of phage therapy is that since bacteriophages only attack the harmful bacteria, the treatment does not result in any unwanted side effects as can be expected by the use of antibiotics. Their selectivity also prevents the development of  resistant bacteria. The use of antibiotics cause the bad bacteria to quickly develop a resist...

Bacteriophages may very well be considered the deadliest thing to exist on planet Earth. Phages outnumber the amount of every other organism combined (even bacteria), and can be found everywhere living things exist (including billions on your hands and face right now!). However, bacteriophages aren't to be feared by living organisms because they only target and kill bacteria. They are specialized killers that target specific bacteria, puncture the surface of the bacteria, and squeeze their DNA into it. The phage doesn't stop replicating inside of the bacteria until it is completely full and the bacteria bursts (This happens within minutes!). The bacteriophage was discovered by scientists in 1915, and in 1917 it was found that they selectively killed bacteria. Although, after the accidental discovery of antibiotics (such as the development of penicillin), bacteriophages were overlooked and medical attention fell solely on antibiotics. People became extremely dependent on antibio...

Before going into more depth about bacteriophages, it is important to understand what exactly a bacteriophage is. To begin, a bacteriophage (also referred to as a phage) is a virus .  Like other viruses, phages must infect bacteria in order to reproduce, which they can do either via a lytic lifecycle and/or a lysogenic lifecycle. The lytic lifecycle  involves the phage acting as a typical virus: it attaches to the host cell and injects its DNA leading to the creation of many new phages inside of the host cell. The replicating of the phages causes the host cell to lyse (burst), killing it in the process. The lysogenic lifecycle of a virus begins the same way as the lytic cycle, with the injection of DNA into the host cell. However, this lifecycle doesn't result in the death of the host cell. Instead the phage's inserted DNA, called the prophage , is not active and doesn't drive the production of new phages. The structure of a bacteriophage and a basic idea of how the virus...

My name is Mya Pomatto and I am a high school senior at Egg Harbor Township High School. For my Genius Project, I will be researching bacteriophages and comparing to their effectiveness to that of traditional antibiotics. I've chosen to research this topic for my project because it is one that had sparked my interest at a young age and that hits close to home. When I was only twelve years old, my grandfather suffered a heart attack resulting in the death his left ventricle. One year later, the site of the LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device) implant had become infected as a result of a common bacterial development. He was placed on antibiotics, yet they were unable to eliminate the bacteria surrounding the LVAD. I began researching alternative medication, which was when I was first introduced to the concept of bacteriophages. The bacteria quickly became resistant to the antibiotic, so only the strongest (and most dangerous) antibiotics could kill it. He knew that the antibiotics w...